


Boy with Flowers

by remoku



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Actor!Mingyu, Alternate Universe, Dialogue Heavy, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Minor Angst, lawyer!Seungcheol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:47:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23818669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remoku/pseuds/remoku
Summary: Kim Mingyu hates anniversaries but something about meeting a part-timer who works at a flower shop, might make him like them.
Relationships: Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Kim Mingyu
Comments: 8
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I combined the 1st and 2nd chapters so the newest update is ch. 5!

‘1-year anniversary’

‘Today at 12:00 AM’

The notification popped up on his phone while Mingyu was mindlessly scrolling through his Twitter timeline. He looked up from his phone and at his manager, sitting directly across from him in the van.

“Did you set this?” Mingyu flashed his manager his phone and pointed to the calendar banner that was displayed at the top of his screen.

“Of course. I had to. You would’ve forgotten otherwise.” Came the reply. Mingyu had to consciously stop himself from scoffing and rolling his eyes at his manager.

“Yeah, well, the one-year anniversary of a fake relationship isn’t exactly something worth remembering.” He didn’t want to start yet another argument with his manager about the pointless relationship he was in, but Mingyu found it hard to hold himself back from protesting.

“Yes Mingyu, I know, but think about your fans. Shouldn’t their excitement about your relationship be worth something to you?” A pointed question asked specifically to make Mingyu feel guilty. He let out a deep sigh in response and returned his attention to his phone.

The banner was still there.

The constant reminder of the fact that Kim Mingyu had to live a lie in order to avoid being alienated from his fan base.

“How about some pretty flowers and a necklace or something? I’m sure the fans would appreciate you leaving a big ass bouquet of flowers on her doorstep,” Mingyu’s manager kept rambling, “Yeah! That would actually be great, because the bigger the bouquet, the more attention you’ll attract, and fans you’ll gain!” It was a one-sided conversation that left Mingyu no space to jump in and give his two cents. He eyed the banner one last time before turning his phone off and thought about the words that had come out of his managers mouth.

“Hey... you know the flower shop that that really old guy owns near my apartment? Let’s go there.” Mingyu suggested, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. If luck was on his side, then the shop would be long closed, and by the time they would arrive, every other flower shop would be either too far, or already closed. His manager agreed all too eagerly, blissfully unaware of the plan that Mingyu had set in motion.

He checked his watch one last time before the van parked across the street from the flower shop.

‘9:30 PM’

Mingyu broke out into a grin when he tried pushing on the door of the shop and it wouldn’t budge. Yes, the lights were on and the ‘open’ sign was shining bright in front of the store, but none of that mattered. He turned around to flash a sorry smile at his manager, when the man rolled down his window and yelled out, “it’s a pull door!”

Mingyu grimaced and turned back around to properly open the door. He stepped inside and was immediately bombarded by the smell of flowers and springtime.

“Welcome! Do you need any help?” A deep, yet cheerful voice called out. Mingyu glanced up towards the back of the store and locked into a stare with a pair of dark eyes. The eyes belonged to a man slightly shorter than Mingyu. He looked between the man’s outfit and his own before concluding that they both could have been wearing a couple outfit. His black dress pants and high-cut white V-neck matched very well with the short man’s neutral mustard sweater, and skinny black jeans.

“Uh. Oh, um what happened to the old guy that owns the store?” Mingyu was at a complete loss of words.

“My uncle? Yes, well he’s out of town for a few days, to visit his grand kids, and he asked me look over the store for him.” Came the reply from the shorter man. Mingyu willed himself to take a couple steps closer to the man and was able to make out the small lettering on his name tag. Choi Seungcheol.

Ugh. The perfect name for who was essentially, the perfect man.

It took him a minute to realize that he hadn’t spoken a word in response and had been gawking at Choi Seungcheol. Which was the exact opposite of what he had wanted to do.

“I see. Well uh, I’d like to buy the biggest bouquet in your store,” Mingyu declared after a few more seconds of being completely enamored by Seungcheol’s beauty. Seungcheol nodded and left his post behind the counter. He walked around the store for a minute or so and then, he proceeded to point to a large bouquet that was on display near the front of the store.

“That big?” He asked with wide eyes and a small smile. Mingyu had the urge to burst into a grin and scream “yes!” at the top of his lungs, but deep down, he knew it simply was not big enough.

“Do you have anything bigger?” Seungcheol shook his head in response. Mingyu’s eye caught onto his black hair that seemingly had a mind of its own.

“I’m so sorry but we don’t carry anything larger than this. It’s my fault, I shouldn’t have led you on by asking ‘that big?’” Seungcheol gave a small bow in apology and made his way to the counter once again.

“Well that simply won’t do! It’s almost 10 PM where else am I supposed to find a flower shop that’s going to be open?” Mingyu wasn’t actually mad, but the pout that he received in return to his yelling, had made him feel very thankful for his manager’s suggestion to buy flowers.

“Well like I said sir, I apologize for this inconvenience, but you can’t blame your procrastination in buying flowers on me!” Seungcheol’s pout deepened and Mingyu’s fake anger immediately dissipated. He felt the corners of his mouth lift into a smile.

“No no no no I’m sorry I was just messing with you. You’re really cute-" Shit. There’s no way he had just said that out loud.

“I mean! All of my fans are really cute and it’s no surprise that you’re not an exception!” He tried to cover his slip up but the man behind the counter simply wasn’t having it.

“Why would you assume I’m a fan? I don’t even know who you are.” The pout was replaced by a smirk and as Seungcheol raised his eyebrow to wait for Mingyu’s response, the latter wanted nothing more than to evaporate from his spot. He rushed to the counter, to close any distance between the two of them and grabbed the short man’s hands like they were a life vest and he was a drowning man. Mingyu bowed his head, his fading purple hair fell to the front of his face, covering his forehead.

“Then, it doesn’t matter who I am. It doesn’t matter that I have won the awards for best male lead in a TV show AND movie for three years in a row. Right now, I am just a man, here to buy flowers for someone he despises.” The words flew out of his mouth before his brain could catch up with any of what he had just spoken. Mingyu had either just hit the jackpot, or his acting career was going to sink at the hands of a man with big doe eyes. He didn’t dare look up from his shoes, pretending to be transfixed by the patterns on the floor of the flower shop.

“I don’t think I believe you when you say that you have won the awards that you’ve won but, I do know that it suddenly makes sense as to why you’d buy flowers at this time of night instead of stopping by in the morning considering this shop doesn’t make deliveries.” Seungcheol spoke and suddenly, the hands he was so desperately clutching onto, started shaking. Which was then followed by the sound of laughter. Mingyu peaked at the man in front of him through his fringe to see the top of Seungcheol’s head and his shoulders shuddering. If he weren’t so offended, Mingyu would have given away all his organs away to see Seungcheol laugh forever.

“Hey! I’m an affluent man in my profession. It speaks on several levels about the fact that you don’t know who I am, and it says more about you than it does about me. Also, how am I supposed to know that this shop doesn’t make deliveries? I’ve never had to personally buy gifts for my girlfriend.” _But I would buy them for you. I would scourge the ends of the earth to find you the perfect gift. No matter the occasion._ Was what Mingyu wanted to say but professing his love to a man he barely knew seemed to be a decision that could only be made in poor taste. Mingyu had fans, a reputation, and a career all at stake, but somehow, he was truly ready to throw it all away for this complete and utter stranger.

Seungcheol’s eyes widened at the last statement that had been spoken by the taller man and it was his turn to clutch Mingyu’s hands. He lifted his head up to openly stare at the taller man.

“You’ve never went out and bought a gift for your girl friend?” His voice was soft as he asked the question. Doe eyes laced with hurt. As if he was the girlfriend that Mingyu didn’t care about. The taller man wanted to defend himself, to expose the truth so Seungcheol wouldn’t have the wrong image of Mingyu, but then, as quick as it came, the hurt was replaced by mischief.

“You know, I think I understand now why you came to buy flowers this late at night. If you’re planning on doing some kind of publicity stunt and you leave the flowers on her doorstep tonight, then they’ll have wilted away by the time morning comes. That way, she’ll be the one that looks heartless for ignoring your big, romantic gesture, while you get off with no issue, after having done the absolute bare minimum. Isn’t that right?” Mingyu finally lifted his head up to make eye contact with Seungcheol and responded with a grin. He moved one hand to his chest and faked a wince. It took everything within him to not leap across the counter and envelop the other man in a hug.

“You figured it out. And I would’ve gotten away with it too if it weren’t for you meddling kids!” He wagged a finger to emphasize his mock hurt and then placed his hand back on top of Seungcheol’s, his thumb gently caressing the back of the other man’s hand.

“But that’s exactly why I need you to give me the biggest bouquet that you can possibly conjure.” Mingyu spoke earnestly, which earned a scoff from the man across from him.

“I don’t think your girl friend would like it very much if she saw you plotting against her like this. I don’t think I even know your name. Why would I help some handsome stranger be mean to his girl friend?”

“You think I’m handsome?”

“I love how that’s the part that you decided to focus on.” Seungcheol deadpanned and moved to release his hands, but Mingyu caught them before they got farther away from him.

“Right. Sorry. My name is Kim Mingyu, I’m 23 years old, I’m an actor, as I said before, I’m buying flowers for my girlfriend, and for the record, I think you’re hot too.” He intertwined their fingers together and smiled. Mingyu ignored the possibility that his manager could very well walk into the store and he would never see Seungcheol again. He was, in fact, a firm believer in the term ‘yolo’.

“I’m Choi Seungcheol- “

“I know. I read your name tag.” Mingyu interrupted, which earned a playfully exasperated scoff in return.

“And I’m 25 years old. I have a boring desk job as COO* of some big conglomerate but I usually look after this store if my uncle’s busy.” Seungcheol spoke nonchalantly as if his job title meant nothing. His stare hardened as if to challenge the younger man. Fire stirred deep within Mingyu and his mind was filled with visions of him quitting his job, being the perfect stay-at-home husband, caring for their ungodly amount of dogs and children, and his heart nearly leapt out of his chest.

“Are you being serious?”

“Not at all. I do work at some big conglomerate but more like for them, because I’m involved in corporate law and my firm represents the company.” Seungcheol responded with a smile. The younger man couldn’t find it in himself to be mad at him for lying and the visions in his head only got stronger, accompanied by imaginations of what the older man would look like in a courtroom.

“If I give you a ride, will you make the delivery?” Mingyu leaned on the counter, looking up expectantly. Seungcheol stifled a laugh and brought Mingyu’s wrist closer to glance at the time. The latter could feel Seungcheol’s breath on his fingers as he looked up at Mingyu through thick lashes.

“Depends. Will you give me a ride home?” The taller man nodded with the enthusiasm of a small child. Seungcheol moved to untwine their fingers which gave Mingyu the opportunity to indicate that he had to talk to his manager for a minute.

The actor jogged up to the passenger’s seat and knocked on the window, waiting for his manager to roll it down.

“You didn’t get the flowers?” The man asked before Mingyu had a chance to say anything.

“No, I got them but I’m going to go with the old man to deliver them to her door so that she knows they’re there and doesn’t leave them outside her house all night. You go home without me and I’ll stop by my apartment to pick up my car.” He spoke and waited for a nod of confirmation from his manager to give him the approval for his plan. Once the man in the van reluctantly agreed, the window rolled back up and the car engine started. Mingyu stood in the street watching as the van got farther and farther away from him. He patted his pockets to make sure his keys were there before setting off into a sprint towards his apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *COO- Chief Operating Officer (for anyone that doesn’t know)  
> Ah hahah I love Gyucheol and I am v appalled that there’s so little fics under this tag so I’m tryna do my part. ,,, please do not be afraid to point out any grammar mistakes you find :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu is WHIPPED for this man and ready to give up everything, but are his feelings reciprocated?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the very opposite of a slow burn,, i'm literally progressing this at breakneck speeds. Hope y'all are prepared lmao.  
> #the internal struggle of Kim Mingyu intensifies

'1-year anniversary’

‘Today, 12:00 AM’

The banner flashed once again when Mingyu had retrieved his car and parked it in front of the flower shop. He glanced at the time that was displayed above the notification:

‘10:00 PM’

For one, he couldn’t believe that he had spent nearly half an hour talking to the gorgeous man that was working at the shop. In such a small-time frame, he had already concluded that no matter what, his career wasn’t as important as the once-in-a-lifetime man that was waiting for him inside the store. The time felt like a countdown to when he would place the flowers on that woman’s doorstep before spending the rest of the night admiring his newfound infatuation. Mingyu hurried out of his car and walked inside the store, a grin on his face before he even noticed Seungcheol. Said man was standing, waiting at the counter with a much larger bouquet than the one that he had shown Mingyu earlier.

He put his hands up in defense to stop the younger man from making any comments.

“Before you say anything, I made this specially for you. I damn near used up half the flowers in this shop but, if it’s still not big enough, then I’ll use all the flowers. Who cares about the other customers when I have a client as famous and important as you?” Seungcheol teased, returning the smile that Mingyu still had plastered on his face.

“Done. I’ll buy the entire store.” The younger man rushed to pull out his wallet, then walked to the counter at the back of the store. He held a company card between two fingers and felt his breath get caught in his throat when Seungcheol gazed at him intently with a smirk playing on his lips.

“The whole store?”

“The whole store.”

“Is your tiny car big enough to fit all of the flowers in here?” Mingyu glanced back at his reasonably sized sedan. He had almost gone with a sports car to impress Seungcheol, but the man being a lawyer himself, didn’t look like someone who would be impressed by something as vain as a sports car.

“We can find out later.” The actor replied and pushed the card further towards Seungcheol. The latter took the card with two hands, his fingers grazing Mingyu’s as he held the card.

“Right. For the purchase of every flower in this store, your total comes to $3,859.65 dollars. Sir.” Seungcheol read off the small screen in front of him and waited a moment before swiping the card, as if to make sure that Mingyu was okay with paying that much money, just to be petty. His agency would’ve murdered him for charging so much on anything else, but for keeping up the pretense of the fake relationship, they were all-too happy to let him spend a reckless amount of money.

He took his card back from Seungcheol, not without first gingerly placing a small kiss on the back of his hand. The older man’s ears flushed a deep red. Mingyu found it to be the most endearing thing in the entire world. He stored the card in its rightful place in his wallet, then turned on his heels and grabbed two handfuls of bouquets from the store display. Seungcheol followed his lead and clutched his handmade bouquet. The two continued to slowly empty out the shop, with barely any space remaining in Mingyu’s car for either of them to sit.

Seungcheol was practically sitting on the center console in his attempts to not squish the flowers that were placed in the passenger’s seat. He held onto Mingyu’s right arm the entire drive to his girlfriend’s house for balance. If Mingyu purposefully hit a pothole or two to make the other man hold on to him tighter, then it was a secret that he would take to the grave.

Mingyu parked his car right in front of his girlfriend’s house and nearly threw the flowers at her doorstep before Seungcheol grasped his hand to stop him.

“The better the display looks, the worse your friend will feel.”

"Oh wow. Thank God you're here with me otherwise, I would've legit just thrown the flowers at her door and called it a day." He got out of the driver's seat properly and began to arrange the flowers whichever way Seungcheol directed him to. The latter offered to help set them, but Mingyu refused, this was an act of rebellion that had to be carried out solely by him.

Half an hour later when the display in his car read

'10:50 PM',

Mingyu grabbed the last pot of orchids and placed it right in front of the door to his girlfriend's house. According to his manager, a few magazines, and a quick internet search conducted by Seungcheol, orchids were her favorite flower. Deep down, he knew that making his fake girlfriend out to be the bad guy wouldn't solve any of his problems. He would have readily given anything to have been free from his obligations to his fans, his company, and whatever other otherworldly being was making his life terrible. To stop living a lie and be allowed to be himself. But if he wanted to live out his dream of being a successful actor, this was a facade that he would have to keep up for however long he needed to.

He must have been in his head for a while because, when he slightly shook his head to return to reality, Seungcheol was reaching in his car to grab a bottle of water. The two made eye contact and the older man flashed a gummy smile at him, deep indents in his cheeks in the form of dimples, appearing, his eyes crinkling with adoration. He took a sip of the water and Mingyu held his breath, afraid to blink and miss another moment of the lawyer looking ethereal. The younger man all but jumped to open the passenger’s side door and gave a bow once Seungcheol had gotten in. He gently closed the door and then made his way over to the driver’s side of the car.

“Thank you for choosing me to be your Uber. May I please know the address of your destination, Mr. Choi?” Mingyu put on a fake accent, beaming when the man next to him found his joke entertaining. The drive to Seungcheol’s house was different from the drive to his girlfriend’s house. The clock was slowly counting down the time that Mingyu had to spend with his newfound crush and he grew increasingly anxious each passing minute. He dreaded pulling into the driveway more than anything but got out of his car nonetheless to try to do whatever he could to see the part-time florist again. At the beginning of the night, he had grown progressively excited as time passed, ready to blow off his anniversary in order to spend time with Seungcheol. And yet, the closer it got to midnight, the harder the realization that the other man had his own life, his own job, and his own routine to get back to, hit Mingyu. The two of them weren't teenagers who had nothing but time on their hands, but two grown adults, each with their own set of responsibilities and obligations. 

Mingyu followed him all the way to his front door, trapping Seungcheol between his own front door and Mingyu’s body. His final realization, was that no matter what, he had to alert the other man of his feelings, in hopes that they were reciprocated, that his endless flirting all night hadn't been a complete waste of time.

“I don’t want to be too forward, but I really like you Mr. Choi.” His gaze was strong enough to pierce through metal, which made sense when the man he had confessed to, averted his eyes to his shoes. Time seemed to drag on, seconds felt like hours, and Mingyu wasn’t all too sure how much time had passed since he had cornered the man.

“Can I kiss you?” Seungcheol finally spoke, peeking up from his eyelashes. Mingyu agreed all too readily. He slowly inched towards the older man, his eyes squeezed shut, until he felt a pair of soft lips on his own.

At first, the kiss started out tender and ended up with Seungcheol getting roughly pushed against the door frame of his house. Mingyu snaked his arms around the shorter man’s waist in an attempt to pull him closer. His pants were getting uncomfortably tight and Seungcheol must have sensed it, because he pulled away, his head leaning against his front door. His lips swollen red as he panted for air. Their noses touched as Mingyu rested his forehead on Seungcheol’s, his shoulders heaving as his lungs tried to catch up on all the air they had missed.

“Geez. Buy a guy dinner first before you try to get into his pants.” Mingyu couldn’t help but laugh at the joke and ran a hand through his hair before returning it to Seungcheol’s waist. His fingers dug harshly into the fabric of the sweater, into his waist, holding on like a lifeline.

“Date me?” Dark eyes sparkled under the porch lights and Mingyu would have paid an unreasonable amount of money to have that look tattooed on the inside of his eyelids.

“I think that’s a given at this point, Mingyu.” Another laugh escaped from the actor’s lips.

“I just had to make sure. You free this Friday? 8 PM? Meet me in front of the flower shop.” Seungcheol nodded enthusiastically at each word that came out of Mingyu’s mouth. He pressed one last kiss and walked inside his house.

A grin erupted from Mingyu's lips. His back hit the front door and he slowly slid down until he was sitting, his back leaned against the door. He held his head in his hands, filled with overwhelming joy for the first time in a while. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why do i mention parking so much,,,  
> anyways ! I am back with another update! Hope y'all liked it! lemme know what u think :)


	3. Chapter 3

Friday could not come fast enough. The clock hit midnight, signaling the start of Tuesday, of Mingyu having to pretend to be in love with someone he despised for an entire day and yet, he had a smile plastered on his face. From the second he had got back in his car, to when his head hit the pillow to finally go to sleep, he had been grinning ear to ear.

‘1- year anniversary’

‘now’

Then, morning came and when his eyes opened, his stomach dropped. Shit. In all his excitement, Mingyu had forgotten the most important thing. Getting Seungcheol’s phone number.

Restraining himself from immediately hopping in his car like a lunatic to ask the older man, Mingyu forced himself to focus on his morning routine, step-by-step, mentally going through his checklist for the day. Before hopping in the shower, he checked the time on his phone.

‘7:30 AM’

He had at least half an hour before the news of his “heartless girlfriend” ignoring his grand romantic gesture would be all over the news and internet. Once the news broke, signaling his plan was a success, Mingyu would drive to Seungcheol’s house with a box of fried chicken and waffles, the perfect breakfast food, and charmingly ask for his phone number.

Mingyu ran his hands through his hair several times, trying to slow down his heartbeat, and finally turned on the faucet. Steam from the hot water slowly filling up the room. He momentarily pondered what Seungcheol would be doing at this time. Would he be taking a shower as well? Would he be driving to work? Eating breakfast? Watching the news? This was not good. Mingyu was getting too excited.

He rushed through the rest of his routine, and around 8:10 AM, he flopped down on his couch and turned on the tv. He caught the news mid-broadcast as they had just started to talk about the abandoned flowers.

' _Outside of her door, lay several hundred flowers, all seemingly arranged with love and affection from her boyfriend, Kim Mingyu, for their one year anniversary, and yet, she herself is nowhere to be seen and as you can see, several of these bouquets have wilted and died from neglect. We have reached out to our beloved actors' company for their statement on this situation, with Mingyu's manager responding by saying that he dropped the flowers off around 10:40 PM last night and waited outside her doorstep to surprise her, but no one answered the door._ ' Mingyu felt a smirk growing on his lips. His plan was complete, and he no longer had to spend the day pretending to be in love, or walking around the city to try and fool the press. His phone lit up with a text from his manager,

_'As much as I hate to admit it, that was pretty smart of you.'_

_'Desperate times call for desperate measures'_

Mingyu scoffed at his phone as his manager left him on read and tossed it to the side. He stood up from the couch to stretch then walked to his bedroom to check over his outfit. He walked in front of his full-body mirror and frowned at the reflection of him wearing sweatpants and a hoodie. Did he want to dress up and show up to his 'girlfriend's' house, looking dejected with yet another thing of flowers in his hand for the media and then immediately drive off to Seungcheol, or did he want to dress more business casual to let the media know he was going to a friend's house to 'heal' his broken heart. His mind was racing 1000 miles a minute as his eyes glanced over to his closet. He spent another twenty minutes messing with his hair, torn between styling it or leaving it how it was.

Mingyu was more or less satisfied with his final choice of throwing on an all-black outfit with purple sunglasses. He excitedly drove to a nearby diner to pick up the meal for a surprise breakfast and raced to Seungcheol’s house.

Mingyu’s heart was caught in his throat as he knocked thrice and the door to Seungcheol’s home opened with angry eyes greeting him instead of the soft ones he had spent most of the night before, falling for. Seungcheol was wearing a black blazer, black dress pants, and a white undershirt that indicated he was ready to head out to work for the day. Mingyu internally cursed at Seungcheol’s coworkers for getting to look at him all day instead of Mingyu getting to savor the view for himself. The older man further opened his door to let Mingyu inside, the latter leaned on it once it was shut.

“So, I might have possibly met the hottest man yesterday, and here’s the funny part, I forgot to get his number.” He tried to ignore the glare that was being pointed at him and bent down to greet the lawyer with a quick kiss. 

“Are you single?” The question came completely out of left field and Mingyu froze midway to Seungcheol’s lips.

“No, I thought you already knew this. Are you? Single I mean.” Mingyu finally understood why he had been glared at, not even five minutes ago. He gently set the box of breakfast food by their feet and waited for the other man’s reply. Anxiety slowly creeping up his throat.

“Yes, of course I’m single. This entire time I thought you had meant girlfriend as in a girl that was your friend. God, I feel like the world's biggest idiot,” Seungcheol trailed off. His eyes studied the taller man’s face for a few seconds, eyebrows furrowed together in deep thought before he continued, “I’m sorry Mingyu, I don’t think I can continue seeing you in good conscience, especially if you’re a taken man.” The lawyer put a hand on Mingyu’s chest to gently push him away. His free hand reached for the doorknob and Mingyu began to internally panic. His hand shot up to wrap around the wrist that was on his chest. His heart began racing. Everything he had worked towards in one night would vanish because he was wrapped up in a contractual relationship to hide a part of himself from the public eye.

“No!” He pleaded with the older man. Mingyu was not sure his legs were working anymore or if he was still standing upright.

“Wait, Seungcheol please, let me explain, please.” The older man pressed his lips together, a deep frown settling on his face. Mingyu could not even find himself to be endeared as he felt himself slip into the beginning of a panic attack.

“Yes, but only because you look like you’re about to pass out.” Was Seungcheol trying to make a joke or was he taking pity? It didn’t matter. All Mingyu knew, was that he had to come clean. He couldn’t wait for Seungcheol to direct him towards his living room, choosing to sit on the floor, his back leaning against the wall, hugging his legs close to his chest. The other man slid down next to him and took one of his hands. His anger, vanished into thin air, replaced by genuine concern.

“This is my fault for not being upfront with you from the beginning, but in my defense, we did just meet last night.” Mingyu began talking despite his throat threatening to close. He glanced to see Seungcheol’s reaction, noticed him struggling to hold back a smile, and continued with his speech.

“I like y-” The buzzing of his phone interrupted Mingyu before he had the chance to finish his sentence. He begrudgingly pulled his phone out of his pocket to glance at the caller ID, his manager. Mingyu held up his index finger to signal Seungcheol to wait while he took the call. He accepted and set his phone to speakerphone, determined to not leave Seungcheol out of the loop this time.

“Her agency doesn’t find the little stunt you pulled today as funny as you do. You better get your ass down here immediately Kim Mingyu!” Seungcheol’s expression dropped even further than before and his eyes returned to the glare he had given Mingyu earlier.

“Mingyu. There’s no way. You’re seriously not going to leave me hanging like this are you?”

“Seungcheol you heard him. I’m so sorry but I have to go,” he fished out pen and paper from his pockets, something he always had on hand in case of running into fans, and began to scribble something down “here’s my address and phone number, please come on Friday and let me make it up to you. I know I’m asking a lot from you, but I promise I’ll explain everything.” Mingyu abruptly stands up, trying his best to ignore the feeling of his heart clawing its way out of his chest, and leaves before Seungcheol has the chance to reply.

On the drive over to the agency building, Mingyu finds himself laughing at how everything has spun out of his control because of his small act of rebellion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes ah haha it's been over a month since I updated. Sorry for making y'all wait this long, I've been planning the plot out and procrastinating. As always, thank u for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the aftermath of Mingyu's phone call with his agency and the brief chaos that ensues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some things I would like to add quickly,  
> \- Cheol’s fit is 10000% from the Mansae stage in Clap era outfits, y’all know the one I’m talking about.  
> \- Gyu’s fit is the outfit that he’s wearing in the An Ode- Poet version album, it’s a look and we love it.  
> \- There’s a point of view switch near the end of this chapter to get Seungcheol’s ‘view’ on the situation. Just wanted to give u guys a heads up so you don’t get confused.  
> \- also,, i apologize for speeding through this plot,, i rlly need to learn how to pace my writing and actually take time to explain things but like it is what it is

Mingyu walked into the conference room, feigning a sudden interest in the patterns on the hard wood flooring, trying his hardest to avoid making eye contact with Mina. He took a seat across from the CEO of his company, who was sitting directly beside the CEO of Mina’s company and began fiddling with his thumbs to calm his nerves. He found it hard to do so, with his manager deciding to stand directly behind him. Perhaps if Mingyu had looked up from his lap, he would have noticed the stark contrast in mood of the staff in the room compared to that of Seungcheol’s earlier that morning.

“Normally, we would have been beyond pissed off at you for pulling some kind of prank like this-” His CEO began, his chair squeaked to indicate that he had leaned towards Mingyu. Mingyu lifted his eyes from his hands to flash the man a confused expression.

“Wait, so, you’re not mad?” He interrupted before the man could continue with his speech. Mingyu could feel his anxiety slowly being replaced by anger. His eyes darted around the room, scanning the faces of the faculty, trying to find someone with a neutral expression to indicate that his CEO was joking.

He felt like he was trying to find a needle in a haystack. Mingyu was surrounded by a sea of bright, shining eyes, filled to the brim with delight, and he alone was drowning in fury.

“No, actually, we called you in to thank you, merch sales for the both of you have risen exponentially over the past couple of hours ever since the news broke. It seems that netizens have taken a lot of interest in seeing how the nation’s couple will move forward after this. We want to release a statement to say that Mina had spent all of Monday putting together a romantic surprise for Mingyu, and she was so exhausted by the end of it, that she slept through all of his phone calls and well into later this morning. Hence, why most of the flowers that you thoughtfully left at her door, had died.” Mina’s CEO spoke with excitement apparent on his face. Mingyu, however, had stopped listening past ‘no’. He sat with his fists clenched, thinking about how he had left Seungcheol’s house under the pretext of a career threatening emergency, only to be listening to his company make plans to profit from his misery. His manager put a hand on his shoulder as subtly as possible, forcing Mingyu to tune back into the conversation.

“We’re thinking that for the rest of this week, at least until Friday night, you two go on a bunch of dates to show that your love for each other is stronger than a little misunderstanding slash miscommunication. This is expected to boost sales even more and garner some much needed attention from directors and brands, in turn, increasing our combined profits. Mina agreed with this plan just before you arrived, but what do you think Mingyu?” His CEO rambled with a look on his face that resembled a little kid asking his parents for a new toy. Mingyu’s brain had not comprehended a single word spoke by his CEO, he openly stared with a gaping mouth until the grip on his shoulder tightened, signaling him to stay silent.

“If I know Mingyu, and I do, he loves it! I’ll go over the plan with him after this meeting ends, sir.” His manager answered for him. Mingyu wanted to scream out in opposition but no sound would come out of his mouth. He craned his neck to glimpse at how his manager put on the biggest smile he could muster up. Mingyu tried to nod and smile equally as enthusiastically, to mimic his manager, but the smile never quite reached his eyes.

The conference room slowly emptied out after the meeting had been concluded, with Mina being one of the last people to leave, a brief look of pity flashed on her face as she walked out, pointed directly at Mingyu. If he wasn’t trying to make sense of what had just happened, he might not have missed it, but his eyes never left their spot, remaining trained on his CEO’s empty chair.

“Why did you lie to me?” Mingyu finally spoke after what felt like hours but was more likely to be minutes. He could barely muddle through asking the question without his voice cracking. Mingyu couldn’t bring himself to care about the fact that he might have been acting over dramatically. To him, meeting Seungcheol the preceding night, had been an eye-opener on how highly he regarded his career.

“Min, I’m sorry, but I knew that pretending to be mad was the only thing that would get you here to be on time for this impromptu meeting.” His manager replied and Mingyu was immediately overwhelmed with a hurricane of emotions. Every emotion he could experience, fighting for dominance inside his brain. Mingyu settled on malcontent, staring blankly at the chair as his manager ignored his internal battle and went over his new schedule for the rest of the week. Mingyu’s fists stiffened as he fought to keep tears from spilling. His heart ached for leaving Seungcheol, after unintentionally betraying his trust. He was struck with a great animosity towards himself for putting his company before his fondness for Seungcheol. Even well after his manager had left, Mingyu was sat still, frozen in his seat. Only when the lights in the conference room turned off, did he finally stand up, forcing himself to get in his car and drive to the destination of his first date of the week.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday turned out to be the three longest days of Mingyu’s life. His own impatience festering like a wound as he watched the hours tick by. He somehow found himself slumped into the driver’s seat of his car at the end of his second to last date with Mina, on the eve of the day he was dreading: Friday. Mingyu had spent every second of his free time thinking up different scenarios of how his meeting with Seungcheol would happen, if Seungcheol would even show up. Mingyu knew that the older man had his contact information, that he was deliberately avoiding texting him. He also knew he wasn’t in a position where he could get mad at Seungcheol for neither confirming nor denying their dinner plans. The only thing he could do, was dwell on how to prepare for Friday.

In case Seungcheol showed up, Mingyu would prepare dinner, come clean to him, and pray for the best. In case Seungcheol didn’t show up, Mingyu would prepare dinner, invite his friends over, get mad at them for mocking him about falling so hard, so fast over someone he barely knew, and try to live the rest of his life without acknowledging that Seungcheol had ever existed in the first place. He angled his head to the passenger’s seat, letting his gaze linger over Mina as she processed everything that Mingyu had told her. He figured if he squinted hard enough, he could see the gears in her head turning to formulate a proper response. It didn’t matter how much Mingyu thought he hated her; she was still the only person who gave him advice worth listening to.

“Min, I know we’re not actually in a real relationship, and how you acted on Monday was a pretty shitty thing for you to do, but I care about you, and you have to think things out a little more. Between living happily ever after with this man and moving on even going as far as refusing to, as you said: ‘acknowledge he ever existed’, these outcomes are two completely different extremes.” Mingyu let out a deep sigh in reply. He had been doing that a lot lately. He hunched forward to let his head rest on the steering wheel. Mingyu wasn’t sure when he began hating Mina and whether it was genuine discontent towards her, or him lashing out his own mismanaged frustrations at her. He was hit by the realization that he had gone from being clueless about his own life, to having one too many revelations in one week.

“I have no idea what I’m supposed to do tomorrow.”

“And that’s okay Mingyu. Here’s what you will do, no matter how your evening concludes. You’re going to go on our last date, make that romantic dinner, and wait. If he shows up, great! If he doesn’t, then I’ll come over and we’ll get over him together. You keep forgetting that this isn’t a one-sided relationship. If we don’t help each other out, then what was the point of having to go through all this pain?” She encased his right hand between her own as she spoke, a gesture that meant more to Mingyu than he would care to admit. He ended the night by promising Mina that he would put more effort into being kinder and showing his appreciation towards her in the future. Their relation would eventually have to end, and he would prefer if it ended amicably rather than not.

Time went by significantly faster on Friday. Mingyu cut his date short a lot earlier than the two initially agreed upon. Mina, being endlessly understanding towards him, let him leave so he could pick up groceries, something he had foolishly forgotten to do the day before. If Mingyu had been a worse cook with bad time management skills, he would’ve never been able to tidy up his house and have barely been done cooking. As he stepped back from setting the dining table to admire his work, his house was filled with the ringing of his doorbell. Mingyu nervously chewed on his bottom lip and pulled his phone out to check the time.

6:49 PM

He pocketed the device to make way to his door. Mingyu took in a deep breath before turning the last lock and coming face to face with the man he had given up expectations of meeting. His heart caught in his throat; afraid he was only there to reject Mingyu in person than over text. Not that being broken up over the phone would hurt any less, it would just make it easier to antagonize Seungcheol. Easier to forgive, forget, and move on.

Seungcheol POV

The door closed after Mingyu, leaving behind a bewildered Seungcheol. The latter stood up and let out a scream he didn’t know he had been holding in. He was filled with anguish for letting himself fall for a man whom he knew nothing about. A man whose charms had deluded Seungcheol into believing he had finally found someone worth prioritizing over his work. He pocketed the slip of paper he had been given and let his attention drift over to the box that Mingyu had left behind. He promptly pulled his phone out to accomplish two things: First, he called in sick to work, figuring that was the least he deserved after the emotional gymnastics his heart had gone through in a span of less than 24 hours. Second, he rang Yoon Jeonghan, his friend, who he knew would take up any and every opportunity to ditch work. Jeonghan had agreed to come over all too readily, not that Seungcheol was going to complain about one of the few people he actually liked from work. He changed out of his work clothes, plopped himself on his couch, and began to browse the channels for something to watch. By then, his friend had arrived with ice cream and wine bottles in hand. The rest of the day was spent by the pair binging trashy soap operas and breakfast food.

“Cheol, I love you, but you are kind of an idiot for falling head over heels that quickly over some actor who turned out to be one of the most famous people right now. Not to mention, also secretly a massive douchebag. But seriously though, how did you not know that THE Kim Mingyu, the man who’s appeared in at least two of the dramas we’ve watched, was the one pining after you?” Jeonghan commented shortly after Seungcheol had finished recalling the events of his Monday, when he had been questioned why he had skipped work. Seungcheol couldn’t think up a justified response and opted to punch his friend on the arm instead. If he had fixated on trying to analyze his own desperate heart, he was almost positive he would have been driven to the brink of insanity.

“Ugh this is why I don’t come to you for love advice.”

“No, you don’t come to me for love advice because there’s no one you love more than your job” Jeonghan retorted, he paused for a moment then made an expression that would’ve made Seungcheol think that he forgot to turn off the gas before leaving his house. “speaking of, practically the entire office has been pestering me to get you to come to the office party at that club on Friday.”

“I can’t. As mad as I am at him, I still promised to go to Mingyu’s house on Friday.” Seungcheol fixated his attention to his phone to check if he had missed any emails from work amid his soap opera watching spree. Seeing no new notifications, Seungcheol threw his phone on the couch and turned back to his friend who had a wicked smile painted across his features.

“A date, you say?”

“… Yoon Jeonghan whatever you’re thinking, I won’t do it.” Seungcheol knew his threat bore no weight, he knew he would end up doing whatever the other man was thinking no matter what. The other man wrapped an arm around Seungcheol’s shoulders, pulling him close, the smile on his face only growing. The evening ended with him promising that he would accompany Jeonghan on a shopping spree when they got off work the following day. Of course, not without heavily resisting first; trying to find any excuse, no matter how small, to get out of it.

“Why? I just want to come home, toil over some cases, and turn in early for a good night’s rest.”

“I thought you were a better liar than that Cheol. We both know the only toiling you’re going to be doing, is over these dumb dramas that Mingyu is in. Come on, I promise it’ll be fun!”

Seungcheol leaving work early to avoid Yoon Jeonghan, was what had led him to running into him on his way to the car park around lunchtime the next day.

“Oh? Who could have guessed that I would catch you playing hooky to go shopping? It doesn’t matter though, I’m glad you’re excited! We only have two items to cross off the agenda for today.” Jeonghan snuck up behind Seungcheol as he was opening his car door, causing him to jump in surprise and close the door on his hand.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. Are you hurt?”

“My hand will be fine, my bank account, however, will not.”

Seungcheol turned out to be correct on that assumption. Jeonghan dragged him to one of the most expensive shopping districts within driving distance, making him try on several outfits until he found some ensembles he liked. Any questions he was asked about buying an unnecessary amount of clothing, all totaling to several thousand dollars, were immediately shut down with the phrase: “because you deserve it.”

“Of course, you’d say that, it’s not like you’re the one spending 30 dollars on a tie!”

“I don’t want to hear another complaint out of you for the rest of the day Choi Seungcheol, I’m sure everyone in the office is tired of you trying to downplay how much you earn by dressing like you make minimum wage.” Jeonghan retorted, successfully muting any further protests from his coworker. He kept all the receipts from Seungcheol, knowing very well that the man would return the purchases that they had made the very next day. Following item one being crossed off the checklist, Seungcheol was taken to a hair salon, hesitantly obeying the order to close his eyes while several stylists crowded around him and decided on his new hair color with Jeonghan. They remained tightly shut until the very end of the hair appointment when it was time to pay.

“What color is it?” Seungcheol struggled to walk to his car with Jeonghan’s hands covering his eyes to make sure he didn’t see it off the reflection of any cars or store windows until he was in the driver’s seat.

“You’ll see soon enough!” Came the answer, frustrating Seungcheol to no end. The second he sat down, Seungcheol pulled down the sun visor in a rush to see his reflection. His eyes widened in surprise as he was greeted with shiny silver hair.

“Before you say anything, I told you I’d do everything in my power to make sure Mingyu regrets acting like an ass towards you didn’t I?” A nod. “I guess we’ll find out whether I succeeded or not when you come to the party on Friday.” He received a scoff in return as Seungcheol frowned in approval over his hair color, obsessing over his reflection.

Seungcheol became the center of attention at his office on Thursday and Friday, with people he had never even spoken to before coming up to him to compliment his hair.

“See! I told you that this color suits you!” Jeonghan ribbed the older man with his elbow as yet another female coworker admired his hair and outfit.

“I feel like the fucking Belle of the ball.” Seungcheol deadpanned in return, finding it difficult to not get annoyed that he was receiving positive reactions from everyone who wasn’t Kim Mingyu. If Seungcheol hadn’t currently been in the midst of the most complicated relationship of his life, he would’ve been elated at the sheer amount of praise his new look was getting him.

Seungcheol arrived at Kim Mingyu’s house on Friday, around ten minutes earlier than he was told to. He knocked on the door, determined to reciprocate the amount of pain he had received, his ego fueled by the reactions Jeonghan and the rest of his coworkers had given towards his new hair. And yet, when the door opened, any malicious intent that Seungcheol was festering, dissipated in an instant. As he crossed the threshold into the house, he found himself forgetting why he had ever been mad at the younger man to begin with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Sorry for any confusion my merging of chapters might have caused, i wanted to change how this story is laid out and wanted to make ch. 6 the epilogue instead of like a genuine "chapter",,, so I merged chapters :)   
> \- Mina is not supposed to be a real person or actress, I was blanking on a name to use and Mina came at the top of my head, so that’s the name I used.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dinner and the aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hii,,, once again, sorry for any confusion I may have caused by merging chapter 1 and 2 together,,,
> 
> there is implied sexual content in this chapter so if you wish to skip that, it begins at "Take a picture, it'll last longer" and ends at "big doe eyes peeking up at him with curiosity" !

“Seungcheol, you came!” His glee was received with a scoff. The reaction caused Mingyu to finally look at the man standing at his doorway. He had somehow managed to look more attractive than when they first met days ago. 

He stepped aside and Mingyu led Seungcheol to the dining table, barely keeping himself from skipping there out of sheer excitement. He turned to look at the man beside him, noticing the way the interior lights seemed to make his hair gleam. 

“You dyed your hair?” 

“I did.” Mingyu supposed the curt response was not undeserved but that didn’t stop him from taking it to heart. 

“I never pegged you as the type of person to go silver. Not that it doesn’t suit you!” The resentment that Seungcheol thought he had discarded at Mingyu’s door found its way returning to him. The need to be snarky, rude, and talk down to Mingyu, to put such a dent in their relationship that it could never recover, was ever growing. 

“Yeah well, I have a party to go to after this and I want to look good.” Mingyu’s heart sank at the statement. He concealed his disappointment and showed Seungcheol his seat at the dinner table, trying to be a good host by pushing his chair in for him. He took his place across from him, taking his time to explain the dishes on the table, their ingredients, how long it took to make them, their origins, whatever he could think of to distract from the actual conversation they were supposed to be having. Nonetheless, Seungcheol listened attentively, asking questions about the food, nodding his head with raised eyebrows and an impressed look gracing his face. By the time they had finished eating, Mingyu was still talking about the random food facts he had learned.

“Min, I don’t want to interrupt the delightfully informative tangent you’re having about the history of potatoes, but I would also like to discuss the nature of your relationship with Mina. Which is, kind of the reason I came here tonight.” Seungcheol interrupted by lightly placing his hand on top of Mingyu’s, stopping him mid-sentence. 

“Sorry, I’m stalling. I guess I should just come right out and say it. I like you.” Seungcheol shot him a puzzled look.

“I know. What does that have to do with anything?” 

“It has to do with the fact that I’m not actually dating Mina. At the beginning of our relationship, we were both relatively unknown actors and neither of us had that much name recognition. My being attracted to men and Mina to women, meant that we could have a fake relationship in order to garner attention from the media while also not running the risk of getting seriously attached. This was a great way for us to become well known, but I’ve sacrificed being in a legitimate relationship or feeling a real connection to someone else because of this.” 

“My reckless behavior caused you so much pain and I don’t think I can ever express how sorry I am but, I also can’t jeopardize my career because I want to be with you. Acting’s a big part of my life but I also want to be selfish and not give you up.”

“Then don’t. Don’t give me up. Allow yourself to be selfish. The last thing I want for you is to out yourself and then our relationship doesn’t work out.”

“How am I supposed to be selfish?”

“I’m formulating the idea in my head right now and we can tinker out the details later but let’s just date in secret and see how it goes. I can pretend to be a personal lawyer for you or whatever in case anyone asks questions and we can just see how it goes.” 

“Would you really be willing to do that?”

“Honestly? If you were someone else, I wouldn’t. But, I haven’t been able to stop obsessing and thinking about you. I know what it’s like putting love on hold for the sake of a career, and I'm kind of over it.” Mingyu beamed. He realized the time he spent tormenting the conclusion of their dinner, had all been a waste. Despite what he had thought, his fondness, the way he had been haunted by Seungcheol, was reciprocated. Mingyu abruptly stood from his seat, overcome with too many feelings to process at once. He distracted himself by clearing the table, adamantly refusing any help that was offered to him. 

“I don't want you to get any food on your outfit. You still have to go to the party!” 

“I’m not going to the party, Mingyu.” Seungcheol spoke sternly, lighting a fire in Mingyu’s stomach. He hurriedly cleaned the table, trying to burn through the adrenaline rushing through his body. 

Mingyu washed the empty dishes as fast as he could, not caring if his fingers began to prune. He walked back into the dining room and took to leaning against the dining table next to Seungcheol, not trusting himself to have the restraint it took to not try to leap across the table and mash their lips together. 

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” Seungcheol obviously noticed the way Mingyu hadn’t been able to stop staring at him. Studying his features, the way the lights in his dining room cast perfectly placed shadows on his face, fixated on the way his eyes glimmered under the dim lighting. 

Doing his best to put on a provocative expression, Mingyu bent at the waist to lean in closer, replying with: “I think mental images convey the same point. Leaves more room for imagination.” At some point after he finished his sentence, the lawyer had grabbed his tie, pulling hard until their lips crashed into each other. Despite the temptation to crawl into Seungcheol’s lap, he stood up, not breaking the kiss, and guided Seungcheol to his bedroom, their clothes discarded recklessly all throughout Mingyu’s house on the way. 

Morning came and Mingyu knew he would be haunted for days on end by the way Seungcheol’s bangs had stuck to his forehead with sweat, his blown pupils, shuddering eyelids, quivering lips, breathy moans, arched back, how his fingers had clutched the bedsheets with such desperation that his knuckles had turned white, his trembling thighs, the list went on. Mingyu bit back a whimper as he thought back on how he had missed the opportunity to take a recording of Seungcheol’s whiny voice and turn it into his ringtone. he turned in bed to try to calm down, catching sight of the rays of sunshine seeping through the curtains as they illuminated Seungcheol’s face. he gently pushed hair out of his face, finding himself unable to look away. He felt Seungcheol stir under his fingertips, long eyelashes fluttering open, big doe eyes peeking up at him with curiosity. 

The moment was interrupted by a barrage of knocks and the sound of the doorbell ringing. Mingyu groggily rushed to the door, being trailed by an equally sleepy Seungcheol who had not bothered to get dressed, draping a blanket around his frame. Mingyu opened the door, immediately getting bombarded by Jeonghan and Mina, talking over each other, a tsunami of words rushing at the pair. Seungcheol, still half asleep, barely manages to pick out a select few words that he pieces into a sentence.

Jeonghan was screaming something along the lines of: “What the hell Seungcheol? You were supposed to show up to the party last night!”

The woman next to him, sounded like she was yelling: “You were supposed to update me on how your date went, you asshole!”

Their voices seemingly harmonized as they both finished their rants with: “You never texted me! I thought you got murdered or kidnapped or something!” Jeonghan went silent, amazed at their accidental synchronization. The woman paused momentarily, failing to contain her anger as she opened her mouth to yell at Mingyu once again. 

“I literally waited until midnight for some kind of call, text, literally anything to tell me how this Soonchan guy reacted to what you had to say.” The mispronunciation snapped Jeonghan out of his daze.

“First of all, it’s Seungcheol-”

“First of all, I don’t care.” The woman interrupted Jeonghan. Sensing an oncoming fight, Seungcheol grabbed Jeonghan's wrist, dragging him towards his car, only mildly aware of how he was dressed in only a blanket and Mingyu's bunny slippers. He figured the ideal outcome would be to go home wearing that damn blanket. The pair stood by his car, staring at each other until Seungcheol eventually broke and began talking. 

“Okay so maybe I didn’t stick to the plan.” 

“Yeah, I noticed. What the hell happened Cheol? Is he just that irresistible for you to forget the scheme that I spent hours coming up with?” 

“No! It’s just... when I stared into his stupid puppy eyes, and heard him explain why he was a jerk to begin with, I started feeling bad for the guy. Plus, he cooked all this food and I would’ve felt terrible if I left without at least staying for dinner.” 

“God you’re so lucky I love you.” Jeonghan spoke while rolling his eyes, making the two of them laugh at the remark. “Go get your clothes loser and say goodbye to Prince Charming, I’ll drive you home.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyyy,,, ah haha sorry i took literally a billion years to update this chapter... i hope you guys enjoyed it! and the next chapter i will be uploading will be the end of this story.


	6. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2 years later, following the events of chapter 5

“I would like to end off by saying thank you for supporting me in this project during this promotion period for our movie, Trauma.” Mingyu took a deep breath before he continued, glancing at the figure standing off to the side of the stage, noticing a warm smile from Mina, encouraging him to keep talking. “I would like to ask my fans to look forward to a statement that has been written by me, which will be released by my company shortly after this event ends to explain the steps that I will be taking moving forward in my career as an actor. thank you so much.” voices from the reporters filled the room. cameras clicked and lights flashed in his face. mingyu took a moment to gather his thoughts and look around the room, scanning the faces of the reporters. a sea of angry faces surrounded him, and he alone was drowning in glee. As he stepped off the stage following a deep bow, thanking everyone for attending, a link to a blog was posted on the social media accounts for his company, labeled as: The Truth. 

Seungcheol was sitting in his office, trying to finish whatever paperwork was remaining before he officially left work for the day. Jeonghan ran into the room, panting to catch his breath. 

“So? Did you say yes?” Jeonghan excitedly questioned, practically breathing down Seungcheol’s neck. 

“Yes to what?” 

“Did you not read the article Mingyu wrote?”

“He wrote an article? On what?”

“Oh my god. Cheol, you’re the worst. He wrote an article on your relationship.” 

Seungcheol’s eyes widened at the statement. He immediately went to Mingyu’s twitter account to see the link to his article. They had both discussed how they would go public with their relationship, but the exact time for when they should’ve done it, was not a conversation Seungcheol remembered having. A larger crowd began to gather in his office. Seungcheol’s hands shook as he clicked on the link. Several coworkers that he hadn’t even spoken to before passed by, lingering at the door, trying to check his reaction, trying to make sure what they had just read was true. 

_**THE TRUTH** _

_Kim Mingyu_

Seeing as how I'm now wrapping up promotions for my latest film, I recognize that I've been essentially radio silent about my relationship for an entire year, ever since my break up with Mina. I updated my social media regularly, but I never spoke about our relationship or lack thereof (for lack of a better word, I’ll probably say the word relationship quite a lot) again, beyond the one sentence statement that my agency posted about our breakup.

I wish I could say that I've taken this time to heal, look within, and return to you being the best possible version of me I can be, but that’s not the truth. 

The truth is, Mina and I ended things amicably because there wasn’t a relationship TO end. Frankly speaking, it’s about time I come clean to my loyal fan base that has supported me through thick and thin. I took this long because I wasn't sure how this news would be received. you don’t have to keep supporting me, all I ask, is that you respect me. 

here goes nothing. 

Two years ago, I was frustrated and angry. both at the world, and at myself. I went to a flower shop the day before my anniversary, determined to leave dead flowers at Mina’s front door, to show how weak our relationship was and get back at the world for making me hide a part of myself. unexpectedly, when I walked in, I laid my eyes on the most gorgeous man I had/have ever seen. instantly, I was enchanted, and my desire to destroy my public relationship with Mina, strengthened. Sure enough, my horribly thought out plan hilariously backfired, and I ended up spending the entire week with Mina while being absolutely miserable because of a misunderstanding between the man and I. We met at the end of that week and came to an agreement that we would try dating for one year and then publicly announce our relationship in our second year. We’ve gotten closer as time has gone by and he’s become the most important person to me. Seeing as you’re now reading this,, it’s needless to say that our relationship is going really well. Tomorrow marks our two year anniversary, and this is the first time in a long time I’ve been excited about an anniversary. I don’t know if he’s reading this right now, but between the two of us, we’ve always maintained a certain competitiveness. I know this is inevitable, us sharing mutual friends means that your “top secret plan” isn’t all that secret. We've said this countless times before, but this is something that bears repeating again and again, I love you to the moon and back. A couple of years ago, the thought of coming out, terrified me to no end. I had no idea how the public, how my fans, how my own parents (hi mom and dad, if you’re also reading this. I’m sorry I know we’re supposed to all have dinner after my press conference and you were questioning why I felt the need to bring the company lawyer along. He’s my boyfriend, which is something you know by this point, but also something I can’t stop repeating.) would react. Honestly, the reception of this news still scares me to no end, but because you’re in my life, I know I’m better equipped to handle it. My favorite quote right now is from Kafka by the Shore, “Anyone who falls in love is searching for the missing pieces of themselves… it’s like stepping back inside a room you have fond memories of, one you haven’t seen in a long time.” I think I found those pieces in you, Choi Seungcheol. Will you marry me? 

Seungcheol kept rereading the last sentence, hoping more words would appear if he looked at the question enough. He looked up from the computer screen once he realized that the article wouldn’t get longer. He was met with the expectant faces of his coworkers, faces that started to blur together, clouded by the sudden flow of tears now streaming down his face. 

“He proposed.” Jeonghan’s voice was muffled, sounding like he was talking from another room. seungcheol couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that he had been proposed to over a blog. He stared at Jeonghan, unable to formulate a response as to how he felt at that exact moment in time. Before he could open his mouth, his phone started buzzing. 

“Hi.”

“Hi? That’s all? Did you read the thing I wrote?” Seungcheol once again was unable to find an appropriate response. The last thing he wanted to do was get engaged over the phone. He wasn’t a traditionalist in any way, but the thought of not being able to see Mingyu’s face as he pulled his own ring box out of his suit pocket, devastated Seungcheol to no end. 

“Cheol? You there?” How had he become paralyzed with fear? The coworkers in his office listened intently, trying to make sense of how, who they previously assumed was the most boring man, had been secretly dating the most famous man in the nation. Seungcheol excused himself from the large crowd, hung up on Mingyu, and made his way to his car in the parking garage. Seungcheol searched for his car for what felt like forever. He swore he knew where it was parked so why were there suddenly so many cars. Upon locating it, he dialed Mingyu’s number as he sat in the driver’s seat. 

“You asshole! Did you know I’ve been planning a proposal for weeks?” Seungcheol whined as soon as Mingyu picked up the phone. He was met with the sound of laughter coming from the other line. 

“So, is that a no?” 

“I'm really annoyed right now, Mingyu. I spent so much time planning the perfect evening and here you are proposing over an article!” For a while, there was no response on the other end and Seungcheol began to worry if he had genuinely upset Mingyu. He blankly stared at his phone screen, waiting for the man to start talking again. Becoming so entranced in his phone, he nearly missed when someone knocked on his car window. He jumped at the figure before realizing who it really was. Seungcheol opened the door and engulfing Mingyu in a hug. 

“Are you actually mad?” the latter sounded like a child who was afraid he had angered his parents. Seungcheol hugged him tighter and furiously shook his head ‘no’. They broke apart, both laughing as Seungcheol retrieved a small black box out of his pocket. 

“Kim Mingyu, will you marry me?” 

“Only if you marry me.” Mingyu responded, producing his own black box. Seungcheol brushed tears out of his eyes as they exchanged rings. 

"I don't want some big ceremony, as far as I'm concerned, we could drive down to City Hall right now and get married." Mingyu's eyes lit up at the statement. He rushed to the passenger's side of Seungcheol's car, already inputting the address in his phone. He looked up from his phone to Seungcheol getting in the seat next to him and intertwined their fingers together, pressing a kiss to the back of his hand. 

"I'm almost certain my parents will simultaneously combust when they find out that I'm gay, have a boyfriend, and got married all in the same day but I don't think I really care. Every second I spend not married to you is literally killing me." 

“Then what the hell are we waiting for?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha.... not me posting this chapter months after i initially promised. Anyways,, thank you all so much for reading this! i’ve had so much fun writing it and appreciate all the love this work has received!


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